TANNAM, Father Gerard, CSSp, - 1929 - 2018 Father Gerard Tannam (Gerry) of the Spiritan Province of TransCanada died peacefully the morning of November 29, 2018.
At the time Father Gerry was a resident of the Laval Community, Toronto, where he had resided since 2004.
His parents and siblings predeceased him except for one brother, Desmond, who survives him in Dublin. Father Gerry was born May 22. 1929 in Dublin, Ireland.
He made his first profession as a Spiritan on September 8, 1948 and was ordained to the priesthood on July 4, 1957.
During his 61 years as a priest, he served in a variety of educational, pastoral and chaplaincy ministries in Tanzania, Nigeria, Italy, England and Canada.
First assigned to Tanzania, Father Gerry taught at St. Francis College from 1959 until 1962. In 1962 Father Gerry was assigned to teach at the Bigard Memorial Seminary in Nigeria from where be left during the Biafran Civil War.
Father Gerry was assigned in 1970 to the Generalate Community in Rome where he served as the Secretary for Information. In 1971 Father Gerry moved onto a teaching post at the Missionary Institute in London, England. In 1974 he moved to Canada to become the founding chaplain of York University in Toronto.
Father Gerry served there until 1983 when he transferred to the chaplaincy department at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario. The following year Father Gerry took up pastoral ministry, first at St. Joseph's in Scarborough and later at St. Thomas the Apostle in Toronto.
Father Gerry also served in Agincourt and was involved in chaplaincy work at the Toronto Hospital from 1994-96.
Following a short sabbatical Father Tannam semi-retired to the Laval Community in Toronto, where he served as Bursar from 2004-2007, but always keeping up with various weekend ministries.
Father Gerry was known for his fondness of reading, his love of discussion and debate, his storytelling and good humour.
Father Gerry will be missed by his Spiritan confreres, family and friends.
Visitation Wednesday, December 5, 2018, 7:00-9:00 p.m. (with Prayer Vigil Service at 7:30 p.m.) at the Paul O'Connor Funeral Home, 1939 Lawrence Ave. E., Scarborough, ON M1R 2Y8. Mass of the Resurrection on Thursday, December 6th at 11:00 a.m. in St. Joseph's Church, 200 Moorish Rd., Scarborough, ON M1C 1E8. The Mass will be followed by a light reception in the church hall. Burial will follow at Holy Cross Cemetery, Thornhill, at 2:30 p.m..
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